Reggina striker Nicola Amoruso has revealed how he and teammate Francesco Modesto came close to joining Roma over the summer.

"It wasn't easy to train when you think you could be about to leave for another side," the ex-Juventus man stated. "The transfer rumours are always distracting, but in the end the club's desire to keep me for another three years proved decisive.

"It would have been nice to play for a big club like Roma, but it was better still to stay here.

"Modesto also found it hard to keep training while it looked like he was set to go to Roma, but he was also very happy to stay in Reggio Calabria.

"Once we knew we weren't going to Rome, we just wanted to prove ourselves here."